Page 58 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“Damn it,” Jill muttered as she gently rubbed her fingertip over the tape, hoping that it would help.

When nothing happened, she yanked the tape off the computer and dropped down in the chair with a heavy sigh. That was followed by typing “APositive” only to have the password prompt shake and delete it, letting her know that it was wrong. That was followed by typing in “REVENGE” in all capital letters and-

Nothing.

Knowing that she only had one last chance before the laptop locked her out again, Jill glanced around the room, looking for any clues while she wracked her brain for something that would help her only to frown when she glanced back at the computer and-

He wouldn’t…

Telling herself that she was wasting her time, Jill reached over and typed in “Angel” even as she shook her head in disgust, knowing that she was going to have to figure out another way around his password and-

“Oh, my God…” Jill mumbled when the computer granted her access seconds later.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Jill quickly took in the folders covering the desktop, noting everything from “Properties” to “Daily Reports” and everything in between. Knowing that time was a factor here, Jill scanned the folders and was about to open the surveillance app when the folder in the right-hand corner drew her attention.

Elizabeth.

Needing to know why this all started, Jill clicked on the folder and found herself even more confused when she spotted a single folder labeledPierceinside. Frowning, she clicked on the file and found hundreds of documents, images, and videos organized in alphabetical order. She opened the first file and scanned it, searching for answers only to close it and open the next one when she was left with more questions than answers.

A few minutes later, she closed the folder and opened another one. This one was daily reports about a brownstone, detailing who came and went and noted that they were all sent by her favorite asshole, Gray. When she didn’t find anything that would help her, she closed the file and opened another one labeled “Auction.”

She opened the spreadsheet labeled “Bids” and felt her stomach drop when she saw the neatly organized list containing her brothers’ names, Izzy, her father, Madison, and several names that she didn’t recognize before she took in the list of Chris and Izzy’s children. Once she read through the list, she took in the bounties and their capture status before she took in the name of the man offering up her family to the highest bidder.

Magnus.

Slowly exhaling, Jill closed the folder and after a slight hesitation, she opened the security app at the bottom of the screen. After one last glance at the doorway, she took in the small images neatly organized on the screen showing everything from the sidewalk wrapped around the building to the rooftop overlooking the city below and everything in between before she found herself clicking on the video feed of her bedroom.

Clicking on the calendar below the feed, she slowly scrolled back until she came to November 25th, the day that this all started and…nothing. She scrolled through the feed until she finally saw movement several days later. She watched as several men rushed into the room, followed by Logan carrying her limp body in his arms.

“Hold on, Angel,”Logan said as he carefully placed her down on the bed.

She watched Logan gently push the hair out of her face and leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead as he said,“Stay with me, Angel.”

Swallowing hard, Jill quickly scrolled through the rest of the feed, watching as he paced the room day and night, sat by her side and held her hand when her IV was changed and stood by the windows with his back to the room when a woman came into the room to clean and dress her every day. She watched the way that he came back to her side the moment the woman was finished so that he could carefully tuck her back in.

She watched as he climbed into the bed beside her every night and pulled her into his arms. She watched him hold her, promise her that everything would be okay when she cried in her sleep and held onto her when she screamed in pain. She scrolled through the feed, noting that he never left her side.

Not once.

She watched the moment when she realized that she was about to die. She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled while Logan’s eyes turned silver and-

She watched Logan lose control when she stopped breathing.

CHAPTER 30

“How many?” Logan asked as he watched the front door of the brownstone across the street.

“We lost count when they started using the backdoor,” Gray said as he joined him in front of the large window overlooking the quiet Manhattan street below.

Nodding slowly, Logan asked, “When did they start showing up?”

“This afternoon,” Gray said as they stood there watching a human male make his way down the steps to the van parked in front of the brownstone.

“Pierce?” Logan asked as his gaze flickered to the shifters standing guard by the front door.

Shaking his head, Gray said, “Just Pack.”

Which meant that they wouldn’t be able to detect them until it was too late, Logan thought as he watched humans come and go from the brownstone. “Are they marked?”

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